Ex-Trump official suggests man fatally shot by federal agents was ‘looking for trouble’

Chad Wolf, who briefly served as acting Homeland Security secretary under the first Trump administration, took to Newsmax Saturday to allege, without evidence, that the man fatally shot by federal immigration officers in Minnesota Saturday was “looking for trouble.”

In Minneapolis, federal officers wrestled, beat and ultimately shot 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, with the incident captured on video by a bystander. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara confirmed their age, that they were a white male, and that they were believed to be “an American citizen.”

The shooting sparked outrage among Minneapolis residents, hundreds of whom clashed with law enforcement at the scene of the incident. Wolf, however, laid blame for the deadly encounter squarely on Pretti, who was accused by the Department of Homeland Security of approaching officers “with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.”

“If you are a protester and you're going down to the scene [of a federal immigration officer operation], and you decide that you want to bring your weapon, your sidearm with two clips, I think you have a certain mentality in play there that you are looking for trouble and that you may take certain actions against a law enforcement officer,” Wolf said.

“And then on top of that, when you have four or five law enforcement officers on top of you, you don't resist! You don't fight back, you don't try to grab your gun, you don't try to grab their gun.”

There is no evidence that Pretti had reached for his firearm, or the firearms of law enforcement. Furthermore, it is legal in the state of Minnesota to conceal carry a firearm.